Time Management

By William Oncken (yes, monkeys master), art of perfect time management relies upon balancing 4 kinds (or types) of working time. Almost all what we are doing in the office/workplace can be assigned to one kind:

1. Working for the boss - this is when you are directly asked by boss to do something very important and what probably should be already done yesterday.
2. Working for my coworkers, colleagues, clients or subordinates. This includes discussions, meetings, assistances, etc.
3. Working for the system - mostly filling unnecessary forms, attendance, waiting for computer updates or IT guys. The Matrix itself.
4. My own stuff - real scope of employment.

Percentage of them varies vertically from one proffession to another and horizontally depends upon position in the company hierarchy. On the next image you can see four examples of jobs and their proportions in working time division. If you disagree with them, please write into discussion your own opinion.

Nice, but…

When most urgent thing pops in, we almost always sacrifice time for our own work as first. So we should understand how our time is divided and how can we manage things to save or use most of it. The essence of every one of 4 kinds is different and to manage them is just question of few rules. Let’s talk about them.

1. Time for the boss

Our chiefs are people who define rules and assign resources. Their demans almost always interfere with our own work, in most cases they require more time, but doing things for boss should be always your priority. When he (or she, e.g. wife is boss too) ask you, do what you are asked for and you will gain more trust and independence so you can manage your time better.

• Rule A: Do what your boss asks. Try to check what and how he/she wants to you to do, your boss will give you more responsibility and independence.
• Rule B: Keep your boss up-to-date about your actions. That will save him/her effort to ask or predict and you both will avoid unpleasant surprises.
• Rule C: Do not always agree with the boss. On the contrary. When you disagree with what your boss is asking, act as you would like others to act toward you when they disagree. That is called loyal resistance. Offer alternatives to convince him/her. If your attempt fails, do what you were asked for.

When you dislike what boss wants, change what he/she wants, but always do what boss wants. If you always agree with the boss, one of you is unnecessary.

2. Time for coworkers (subordinates, clients)

In this time boss cares about delegation of roles (monkeys) to his/her subordinates and development of their skills and abilities.

• Rule D: Lead your crew to greater independence, rise their self-confidence. By this you increase work moral and reduce time necessary for guiding and leading them.

In words of monkey slang: more monkeys you leave behind, more time you get for your own people.

3. Time for the system

Forms, reports, phone calls, teleconferences, meetings, all everyday administration and bureaucracy. It is very risky to ingnore system requirements. Nobody can perform duties without other people and some higher level of organization. We should always measure pros and cons when thinking about cutting time for the system.

• Rule E: Build relations with other people in the system and gain their trust. It improves communication and speed-up organization.

4. Time for yourself

Everything in our area of competence and responsibility. We manage this time, it is the most important. Last, but not least. It is a basement for our own initiatives, opportunities, creativity, productivity and career itself. This is source of real income, but it is first sacrifice when pressure raises and in long term causes more damage to interests of the organization by decreasing innovations, initiative, creativity, activity, etc.

• Rule F: Move more things into Time for yourself. By that you become more resistant to disturbance and it allows you to calculate with things you did not think-about before.

Literature

• Kenneth H. Blanchard, Spencer Johnson: The One Minute Manager